Finally!

[crappyice]

This is my third bow season and I have yet to record my first harvest...UNTIL TODAY!

I am hunting in Westchester with a deer management program. I climbed a tree in a new area to me but was loaded with sign.

At 3:30 I hear voices talking and realize that hikers are out enjoying a nice winter day. Damn another spot burned is my first thought. But then about 15 minutes later I hear the crunch crunch crunch from my left and a doe shows up. She only needs two more steps and she's mine. But no, sharp left turn and all I see is rump walking to the hillside. Her companion is held up about 35 yards away and I see a closer spot for a shot. She walks right to it and I plant her. My shot is a bit far back but it's solid and I see my arrow sticking out. She buggies up the hill and makes a loop to join her friend. When they get together, she wipes out on a steep decline and hobbles off to the thicket...and vanishes.

Now the anxiety starts..was it too far back? Why didn't she fall and stay down? Is it going to be too dark to track?

My buddy showed up a 4:45 and we started looking for initial sign. No blood, no arrow. The only thing I have is the skid mark she left on the hill where she fell. There where some heavy tracks and we followed them to the thicket. Frustration started to kick in when I found ZERO blood. I was just about to call It and come bak tomorrow morning when my buddy says, "I found your arrow ... Sticking out of this deer!" She broke her back right leg, I presume on the fall, causing her to stay put just below the thickets where I last spotted her. I am still not 100% sure why she died so quickly with my shot a bit back with no pass through. Opinions welcome!

Finally, my first deer with a bow after three seasons. What an unbelievable experience, not without help from a quality hunting partner who left his Christmas Eve prep to track and recover my deer.

Thanks for reading this long tale with a Merry Christmas ending!

[bkln]

Good job ice, any archery deer is a trophy....they are hard to come by these days especially where we live.....

[cbx46]

how long did you wait before tracking? i shot a doe this year a little far back and waited over an hour to track she bleed to death internally I only found her by searching the thicket i saw her bound into even after finding her very little blood in the area but her body cavity was loaded with blood if you hit a kidney you get a lot of blood flow inside.

[crappyice]

I only waited an hour before I started looking around the initial shot sight. By the time my friend showed up it was closer to 90 minutes and I was ready to just back out since we were loosing light and saw no blood. He just happened to stumble on her following tracks and terrain. I was lucky she expired that quickly or else we would have been pushing her away. I swear she died of shock as a result of the broken leg and an arrow sticking out of her gut!

[JimmyDaSavage]

Congrats on the first with a bow. You must be so pumped up right now. Enjoy!

[wooly]

Congrats on #1.... how 'bout some pics?

[greensider]

good job congrats

[crappyice]

Congrats on #1.... how 'bout some pics?

I've been carrying a camera all season until my last three hunts. Started to think i was jinxing myself.

[MountainHunter]

Congratulations!

[irish_redneck]

congrats! ... pictures... ?

[irish_redneck]

Cellphone?

[Elmo]

Congratz on your first bow kill. If/when you gut her, you'll know the full story of what happened to her.

[Deerthug]

Congrats on your first bow kill. I'm still waiting patiently for mine.

[crappyice]

So on a previous post, I am pretty sure I wrote that I hang deer by the back leg to avoid the "noose look." Of course she broke her back leg, not allowing me to hang her upside down so by the neck it is. The head of the management program aged her to be 2 1/2...and guesstimated her to by 120lbs.

Edited December 24, 2012 by crappyice

[Red]

Congrats

[ny hunter]

Congrats on your first bow harvest!!!!!great job

[Fletch]

Way to go!!